To be the best, you have to beat the best.

The Southeast Bulloch boys get that chance today as they travel up to Roswell to take on top-ranked Blessed Trinity in the second round of the Class-AA state playoffs.

The Yellow Jackets (9-5-1) are very aware of the challenge lying before them, but are also confident in their own abilities. Last week, SEB traveled to Morgan County in the first round of the playoffs. An underdog in that matchup as well, the Jackets rose to the challenge, erasing an early deficit and notching a 5-2 victory.

Of course, there is a bit of a difference between the No. 2 seed Bulldogs and the Titans (16-1-2), who dispatched Jordan High School 10-0 in their first playoff game.

"There’s no doubt that (Blessed Trinity) is a great team," SEB coach Bob Massee said. "But this is a challenge that we’re glad to have. We’d rather line up against the best than never have that chance."

If the Jackets want to make some noise in throughout the state bracket, they’ll have to quiet Blessed Trinity’s high-octane offense. The Titans have scored 70 goals in their 19 games while allowing just nine – including 12 shutouts.

While the Jackets found an offensive explosion to power them through the opening round, defense will be high on the wish list today.

"We’ve really stressed denying," Massee said. "We’re a solid defensive team, but we have to be even better. It’s not enough to deny just one opportunity against a team like Blessed Trinity. We have to get in front of everything."

If SEB can stifle the Titans’ attack, it might be able to counter with some offense of its own.

Senior James Jones has paced the Jackets through most of 2012, with solid midfield play from junior Sean Healy creating plenty of chances. Last week, junior Doug Flott showed his explosiveness in netting a hat trick against Morgan County.

All three can create offense out of thin air, but also create headaches when the ball is sitting still.

"Set pieces will be a key," Massee said. "We can do a lot of different things off of free kicks and corners. If we can give ourselves lots of those opportunities, we can look to make something happen."

Despite what many would view as long odds stacked against them, the Jackets have one word that hasn’t crossed their minds this past week.

Upset.

With one game left in the regular season, SEB was in a position to grab a top seed. Things didn’t quite work out that way, but that hasn’t stopped the Jackets from thinking like a champion.

"I thought that we could be a very dangerous 3-seed," Massee said. "We’re going to have a big test, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think we can still be great."